. . . one of her small, determined stands she takes to acknowledge his mother.

[shootingstar]

(William doesn't want to get reminded of his mother; it's William's birthday))
Gloria sits back down on William's vacated chair. 'Sometimes, I think all you do is try not to remember. It must be exhausting.' She picks up the unopened (birthday)card they both know is from Evelyn (William's mother) and then gently rests it against the teapot. Later she'll put it on the mantelpiece next to her own; one of the small, determined stands she takes to acknowledge his mother.

(From A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe, Part III Family Business, scene 46)

What does "stands" mean in this context? I'm being taken aback because of the adjectives "small" and "determined"

 

[Rover_KE]

stand (noun)

28 a policy, position, opinion, etc., with respect to a (usually controversial) issue.

We must take a stand on sex education.

(Random House Dictionary)

 

[shootingstar]

Thank you. Now, I take "stands" to mean something like "arrangements", "efforts", "policies", right?

Oxford gives this:
stand: a determined effort to resist or fight for something
examples:
This was not the moment to make a stand for independence.
We have to take a stand against racism.

"Make a stand for" and "take a stand against" are idiomatic.